Leonard Cohen, the balladeer of the whimsically blue, died back in 2016; but Keith James is a man on a mission to keep his songs alive by presenting them “stripped back, desolate, naked and sensual” .

Even better, he’s on his way to Bromsgrove for a date with an Artrix audience, this May.

A spokesman said: “Enigmatic, mysterious and sub-textural, songwriter Leonard Cohen was an unflinching character, with an exact sense of prose, wry humour and courage to wrestle with the unspoken, forgiving human frailty with the stroke of each line.

“With a lifetime reputation of performing in this exact way and an undying love of the ‘pure song’ Keith James gives a concert of Cohen’s amazing material in the most intimate and sensitive way imaginable, exposing the solitary inner strength of his greatest songs in their original perfect form.”

In his lifetime, to some, Cohen was “laughing Lennie”, an ironic tag which drew attention to the singer’s gravelly, deep voice and lyrics which never seemed to be far away from expressing an existential crisis or three.

But for others, he was perhaps the finest songwriter of his generation, excelling even Bob Dylan for lyrical genius.

The spokesman added: “Keith has performed an extensive tour of this concert in Theatres and Arts Centres across the UK, giving close to 400 concerts to well over 100,000 people. This has proved to be one of the greatest honours in Keith James’ 40 year career in music.

“Included in the concert are Cohen’s well known songs: Famous Blue Raincoat, Sisters of Mercy, Suzanne and Hallelujah alongside his rarer and profound writing such as Who by Fire, Joan of Arc and Secret Life. Also included are Keith’s dramatic and absorbing performances based on the work of Federico Garcia Lorca – Cohen’s greatest influence.”

Keith has also transcribed into song one of Leonard’s poems from his collection Book of Longing.

Tickets for The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, on May 31, are available from the Box Office now on 01527 577 330.